Phineas pabdee



No. 60,930. Patented Jan. 1, 1867.

: lllliiilitillllll NFETEHS, PHCTO-UTHOGRAFHER, WASHNGTON, D C.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, PHINEAS PARDEE, of New Haven, in .the county of NewHaven, and State of Connecticut, have invented a new improvement inRailroad Car- Brake; and I do hereby declare the following, when takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, and the letters ofreference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification,and represent, in-- Figure 1, a side view showing the brake as applied.

Figure 2, a like side view, the brake in position ready for applicatiov-Figure 3, a section on 2 2 looking to the left; and, in V Figure 4,a'section on a: as looking in the same direction.

This invention is designed with special reference to thestopping ofrailroad 'cars in the shortest possible time, as in cases of danger oraccident, or whenever an instantaneous stoppage is required, andconsists in the arrangement of a shoe in such relative position to thewheels, so that it may be dropped upon the rails and the wheels pass onto the said shoe, instantaneously stopping the revolution of the wheel.The shoe being dragged upon the rail, creates so ,much friction that thecar is nearly instantaneously stopped.

To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use myimprovemenh'l will proceed to describe the same as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. v

A is the platform of a car; '13 B and O O, the wheels, arranged in theusual manner, so as to roll upon the rails D. E is the shoe, formed soas to lie upon the rail, and with flanges upon either side to guide andhold it upon the rail. The said shoe is attached by a chain, a, or itsequivalent, to a shaft, F, which said shaft is supported in properbearings, G, beneath the car. is a shoe-holder of a trough-like form, asseen in fig. fl, and attached to the car, so that, by turning the shaftF, (which is done by the application of power thereto in any convenientor known manner,') to wind up the chain a, the shoe E will be drawn upinto the holder I, as seen in fig. 2, and when so drawn up is there heldby a lever, L, one arm of which is constructed so as to fall into anotch on the shaft F. as seen in fig. 2, and released by depressing theother arm, as in fig. 1, or may be held or released by any other device.When the cars are in motion inthe direction denoted by arrows, the shoeis held in the holder, forward of the rear wheels C G, as seen in fig.2; and if the cars are to runin the opposite direction to that denotedin fig. 2, then the shoe should be changed to the other holder, so thata single shaft and single shoe would answer for both directions, or, ifpreferred, two separate shafts and separate shoes may be employed. Whenit is desired to operate the brake, release the shaft as denoted infig. 1. The inclination of the holder I permits the shoe E, by its owngravity, to slide down on to the rail, unwinding the chain from .theshaft. As soon as the shoe strikes the rail, the wheel immediatelypasses on to the shoe, and of course bears hard down upon the shoebefore it has entirely passed from its holder. In order to permit theshoe to pass freely out, t'he lower portion of the holder I is hinged tothe upper portion, d, so as to permit a depression at that end of theholder, the hinged portion being supported by a spring,f, or otherconvenient device. When it is desired to return the shoe to its holder,back the car, so that the wheels will run off the shoe, at the same timewinding the chain on to the shaft F, so as to draw the shoe up into theholder, as seen in fig. 2, the lower or hinged part of the holder beingdrawn down to receive the rising shoe. The operation of releasing thebrake may be performed by the brakeman upon each car, or, by a simplearrangement, may be simultaneously operated upon all the cars by theengineer. It may be advisable, under some cars, to form the shoe insections hinged together iniorder to perfect its operation.

I therefore do not confine myself to the precise construction of theshoe or its holder, but having thus fully described my invention, what Ido claim as new and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The arrangement of the shoe E, in combination with a holder and theshaft F, or its equivalent, when arranged in such relative positions tothe wheels as to operate in the manner substantially as herein setforth.

PHINEAS PARDEE. Witnesses:

Joins H. Snunwu, A. J. Trnmrs.

